Darksiders: The Very Definition of Bad-Ass

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The more hands-on time we get, the more we like it...

By IGN Staff

War; what is he good for? Skipping through daisy fields handing away peace, love, and mung-beans like a sissy girl? Nope. Scything through demon freaks hewing away pieces, limbs, and minced-brains like a semi-automatic God? You bet your arse. Apparently, War is also good for freelance protagonist work, and we were fortunate enough to saddle up some hands-on time with his latest side-project, Darksiders.

Now, in case you haven't heard the word; Darksiders is a slashtacular ride that takes heavy inspiration from the nastier happenings in the Good Book (The Bible, not The Best of Penthouse Letters... hereafter known as: 'The Awesome Book'). The general idea is to take the role of War, an annoyed horseman of the apocalypse who is determined to trample the party - or 'parties' - responsible for prematurely kicking off Armageddon. You see, War never faxed out the official "game on" memo in the first place - but, for whatever reason, heaven and hell still went hammer and tongs at one another, the human race caught a slight case of death, and the forces of evil eventually laid claim to the wreckage. Which is how it should be, because good is dumb.

This season, ridiculously oversized is in, slim-fitting is out.

Wrongly accused of starting all the mischief, War is brought before The Charred Council who are essentially a bunch of scheming fence-sitters that mediate between heaven and hell. With the other three horsemen AWOL, the council hold War solely responsible for the shenanigans, strip him of his vast powers, and three-wood him back to Earth in a meteor. To keep him in check, War receives a purgatorial parole officer, a chap named The Watcher (voiced by the eminent Mark Hamill). As his name suggests, The Watcher is there to watch you, to offer semi-helpful advice, plus he has been granted the power to end your equestrian arse if necessary – just think of him as a 'tough-love' version of Navi...

Grabbing a controller, our hands-on time began in the first section of Darksiders, the Crossroads, where you'll get to wield War for the very first time. The thing that initially strikes you about the game is the beautiful visual style – and not beautiful in the classical sense, it's more akin to the way the wastelands in Fallout 3 were simultaneously hideous and attractive. It's been a whole century since mankind got the karmic kybosh and the city skyscrapers are now hulking skeletons brimming with all manner of hellish demon spawn, not to mention small pockets of angel resistance.

This awesome visual design extends to War too, who looks like he is wearing the latest ensemble from the Warhammer Spring Collection, due to his hulked up armour and the oversized fist gauntlets covering his massive hands (and you know what that means ladies: epic back massages). But despite his intimidating presence and thunderous gait, War still deals out death like a psychotic acrobat. Armed with 'Chaoseater' - a Zweihänder sword large enough to be God's personal letter opener – you can mete out choppy justice to anything stupid enough to get within range. For any idiots outside of dismemberment range, War has access to a boomerang-esque Crossblades, and a four barrelled hand-cannon named Mercy that distributes large, calibre-based, 'gunishment' into saints and sinners alike.

Your trusty steed Artax.

Freely distributing the pain in Darksiders happens thusly: 'LT/L2' is a lock-on toggle that gives the screen a Zelda-esque letterbox effect, lets you focus your rage on zombified humans (or 'mouth breathers' as the Watcher likes to call them), and it also lets you flick between targets with the right analogue stick. 'RT/R2' unleashes whichever projectile weapon you have equipped, and 'RB/R1' serves as both a block button (that can counter attacks if timed right), and may be used as a fast dodge if you input a direction. Using these three features, every battle becomes a fast and furious ballet (with the emphasis on pruning, rather than prancing).

If swift evasion and range aren't your bag, you can always slice through bone like it is candle wax with Chaoseater. 'X/Square' governs all of your sword-based attacks, 'Y/Triangle' is assigned to punching things with War's ample mitts, and 'B/Circle' grabs cars to hurl at enemies (or you can just cut out that particular middle man by grabbing said enemy and crushing his skull like a rotten egg). As you can imagine, War has a plethora of four-to-six button combos available, including ground attacks, aerial juggles, and 180 moves designed to give anyone behind him the closest shave a zombie-man can get.